Social (& antisocial) Media

What a week of cyber highs and lows!

We were deeply honored - and downright giddy - on Monday when Good Morning America aired a video clip of our Diamond Cutters dancing grounds crew. 

Facebook likes climbed to 59,000 by week's end with a similar number of views on our YouTube channel. That's fifteen seconds of fame to savor! 



From boom to bust: That blissful broadcast was followed on Tuesday by a viral video of Centerplate CEO Des Hague kicking a puppy. Centerplate is the giant food service company that manages our concessions at the DBAP. Of course, we were the brunt of some antisocial social media. We renounced the act, the actor...and our lawyers are talking. We are on the side of canines. The Bulls hosted three Bark in the Park events to benefit Second Chance Pet Adoptions this season, and we helped Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue with a fund raiser. The Hague issue is still roiling. An online petition to oust him had 156K signatures at this writing.

Wanting to end this social media commentary on a positive note...
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge phenomenon has made Internet history raising $101mm as of Friday. I was on the board of the NC association for ten years, and I have a great affection for the patients, families and their advocates at the Jim "Catfish" Hunter Chapter where donations have topped $205K. "Everyone is just blown away. We are feeling very grateful for this unexpected surge of support," per an email from chapter CEO Jerry Dawson. What if this cash infusion sparks breakthrough research that identifies the elusive cause of ALS...and that leads to a cure for this cruel disease? That is the true potential and power of social media!

AT BAT...for ALS. Post-game report:

We've been working hard on ALS through the weekend - raising awareness and money.

The disease has close ties to baseball - it claimed the lives of Lou Gehrig and Catfish Hunter - but it needs far more attention.

The cause is unknown. There's no cure, and there are no survivors. Yes, ALS needs far more attention.

To that end, it was ALS Awareness Night at Friday's game and the chapter had a group outing at the DBAP on Sunday.

Angela Murphy, the chapter's Director of Special Events, receives the game ball at Friday's game.

Also, we helped to promote the chapter's eBay auction with 99.9 The Fan and 620 The Buzz. $7,000 was raised.

If you can invest fifteen minutes, here are a couple of notable stories on this topic from last week:

• Listen to this Fan/Buzz interview with golf legend Tom Watson. His caddy died of ALS.
• Watch this moving video from WRAL TV5 News...

Now, you understand why we're AT BAT...for ALS.

Jim "Catfish" Hunter ALS Association chapter website; click here.

Red Sox Nation Invades Durham - Bid on Schilling!

EXCELLENT weather for baseball...as the Bulls begin a four-game series with Pawtucket tonight. The Red Sox Triple A affiliate from Rhode Island attracts Boston fans from across the Triangle. Despite our South Division rivalries with the likes of Charlotte and Norfolk, this home stand against New England is our biggest draw.

Expect the headlines to be about pitching this weekend:

• Former Tar Heel Andrew Miller will start against the Bulls on Friday night
• Eight-year veteran Brandon Duckworth will pitch against us on Sunday
• Former Brave Kevin Millwood will start on Monday

Plus, Darnell McDonald is down from Boston on rehab.

Sunday’s game will be televised on NESN in the northeast and Monday’s game will be broadcast on the MLB Network. Regional and national exposure for a baseball battle in the Bull City!

Join us at the DBAP this weekend.

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Speaking of the Red Sox, the Jim "Catfish" Hunter Chapter of the ALS Association is conducting an on-line auction that features this autographed Curt Schilling jersey and ball. Check it out; click here.

The Bulls donated the Schilling jersey to the auction.

AT BAT...for ALS

At Bat for ALS is underway!

99.9 The Fan and 620 The Buzz are staging a radiothon on Thursday…raising money to fight this terrible disease. The cause is barely understood and there’s no cure. It may sound crass, but here’s my simple formula: CASH (for research and patient care) = HOPE.

Raleigh-Durham is the test drive for this ALS project. Later this summer other sports stations will follow our lead in Philly, Minneapolis, LA, Tampa, Denver and DC.

So, tune in and make a pledge. The Bulls will join in with an ALS Awareness Night on Friday and there’s an on-line auction in progress through Sunday.

Click here to check out the auction. It features some incredible sports memorabilia and VIP experiences: a Yankees’ game in the Big Apple, an ACC basketball game at Duke with credentials for Coach K’s post game press conference, a private batting practice on Goodmon Field at the DBAP, Late Night with Roy in the Dean Dome.

…and if that doesn’t float your boat, Debra Morgan is offering a personalized tour of WRAL TV5.

Thanks for your support!

The Walk to Defeat ALS

Saturday's Triangle walk was a humongous success for the Jim "Catfish" Hunter ALSA Chapter. $250,000 was raised!!!!

THANKS to my supporters. We accounted for 1% of that total.

...and there was another walk in Winston-Salem where 1000 ambulatory volunteers raised over $70K. It was a record day for the chapter!

2500 participants walked to defeat ALS at the Credit Suisse campus in Morrisville.

Wool E. Bull dances to defeat ALS.

It's a busy month for the dedicated chapter staff as they fan out across the state for these events in Chapel Hill, Greenville, Greensboro, Lancaster SC, Wilmington and Charlotte:

www.catfishchapter.org

Walk (or donate) to Defeat ALS

Full disclosure: This is a fund-raiser. It’s for ALS. I’m vice chair of the NC chapter. I have been procrastinating, but we need to get this done. Please, give me a financial assist as I support the Triangle Walk to Defeat ALS on Saturday, April 2 at the Credit Suisse campus in RTP.

CLICK HERE to donate on-line.

I’ve been on the board of the Jim “Catfish” Hunter Chapter of the ALS Assn since 2002. I refuse to rotate off of the board! The cause is so compelling:

- It’s a terrible disease. Researchers are bearing down on the cause, but there’s no cure. Imagine having a disease still shrouded in mystery for which modern medicine offers no real hope.

- Yet the patients and families I have met are exemplars of faith and courage. It is inspiring.

- This small NC non-profit is totally committed to patient care. No bureaucracy or large fund-raising apparatus. The needs of patients, families and their care-givers are the focus of our chapter.

- And finally, there’s the baseball connection. ALS is best known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and it claimed the life of NC’s favorite son and baseball legend, Catfish Hunter.

Here’s some boilerplate the chapter office urged me to include:

Through a nationwide Chapter network, The ALS Association leads the way in global research, coordinates multidisciplinary certified clinical care centers, supports the people and families of those affected by ALS and fosters government partnerships. The Association builds hope and enhances quality of life while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure.

Your tax-deductible gift will make a considerable difference in the lives of many! It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause. You can make your donation online with a credit card by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution via check (payable to "ALSA" with “George Habel/TRI Walk” on the memo line) to the Catfish Chapter office at 120-101 Penmarc Drive, Raleigh, NC 27603.

Any amount, great or small, helps in the fight. Again, click here to donate on-line. I greatly appreciate your support!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Invest ten minutes: Learn more about ALS and our NC Chapter...

More on ALS...

Indulge me, please, for another post on ALS. My last blog on the subject was about our NC chapter's golf tournament. This is more serious, and I ask that you invest five to ten minutes with the content I'm posting.

Incidence of ALS among soldiers. This horrible disease has a historical connection with baseball heroes Lou Gehrig and Catfish Hunter, but an alarming link has developed with the military.

WRAL TV ran this story yesterday. CLICK HERE to view the video. TV5 anchor Debra Morgan provides and informative and moving story.

...and I commend this column to you. Tom Swift of Hendersonville writes for the Asheville Citizen-Times. He is losing his ability to speak, but not his eloquence:

Every three months I go to a clinic in Charlotte that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ALS. "Treatment" is an optimistic word, for there is no treatment or cure for ALS at present, only the management of symptoms. At each clinic I take a breathing test to measure my lung functioning. I breathe as long and as hard as I can into a tube that measures me against a standard based upon my age, weight, gender, and so forth. The first couple of times I took the test I exceeded the standard and scored over one hundred percent. During the last two years, my lung function capacity has gradually declined to seventy-six percent. While this is no reason for immediate alarm, it is objective evidence that the disease is robbing me of my health. It is evidence that ALS will eventually kill me.

Click here for the complete text of Tom's column in the Asheville Citizen-Times.

...and I commend the Jim "Catfish" Hunter ALS Assn to you for a special Holiday Season gift. Capitol Broadcasting Co., the Durham Bulls and Wolfpack Sports Marketing are big supporters. Join the team!

Thanks, gh

Catfish Classic - Golfing for ALS

I attempted golf for a couple of years. It was a pathetic, arthritic undertaking. Still, I admire the game and golf courses in particular. It’s American feng shui.

Maybe my motivation was questionable. I regularly dispatched co-workers to charity golf tournaments while I remained in the office. I was jealous.

And we owned the Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach. Our ballpark staff spent more time on the links than they did on the diamond! They insisted that it was work?!? I was jealous.

Yet another example: One Monday last month I was the only person in the office. Our ENTIRE staff was at the Catfish Classic…playing or volunteering in the annual event for ALS. I’m not complaining, though. The Durham Bulls sponsor the Classic at the gorgeous TPC Wakefield Plantation, and I'm on the board of the Jim Catfish Hunter chapter of the ALS Assn.

Our good friend, Wes Hare, is one of the tournament’s organizers:

The 2009 Catfish Classic was a huge success - even in a down economy. The event raised $60,000, bringing the total to $300,000 in our 5-year history. We had a cool start to the day, but wonderful weather overall. We listened to a patient who is in the early diagnosis stage of the disease, had a presentation on what it is like to be a care-giver for patients with ALS, and listened to Dr. Richard Bedlack from the ALS Clinc at Duke on progress made in diagnosis and treatment of ALS.

Wes works for Theo Davis printing (when he’s not working for ALS.) THANK YOU, Wes...for your dedication and enthusiasm!!!

Bulls' foursome: (from left) Head Groundskeeper Scott Strickland, GM Mike Birling, Rob Stover of Tyler’s Taproom and Mike Miller, Bulls' sales staff

Balloon photo: 420 golf balls are dropped from a hot air balloon gondola. The ball drop raised $4,200